Gray One

Gender: male

Species: water vole

Appears In: Marlfox




The Gray One is the old leader of the Riverhead tribe who lives with them in a cave alongside a river in Mossflower. According to Burble, the voles are once ruled by a council until the Gray One claims he is their leader before stripping the tribe of the aforementioned council and declaring himself the sole ruler. He dreams of owning the Leafwood and, upon meeting Song's band, realizes that the squirrelmaid is carrying it. He then attempts to trade his boat for the stick, but his vessel is quite rickety and Dippler refuses to accept anything save for Swallow. Despite the boat belonging to the tribe, the Gray One agrees in hopes of obtaining the Leafwood, however the friends sneak away during the night aboard Swallow taking both the stick and Burble with them. When the Four Chieftains return to Mossflower with Martin's recovered tapestry, Burble becomes the tribe's new Chieftain (it is unknown how the Gray One surrenders his power). Due to his sometimes cruel nature, he is considered to be a "grey character".